February 29. Looks strange, doesn’t it?
I’m still plugging away at the novel and also at a new short story. This is the first time I’ve done two things like this simultaneously. The novel in the morning and the story in the evening. I have about 2000 words out of 5000 on the short story, and it’s moving along at a pretty good pace. I also got in my requisite new material on the novel this morning and left it off at a point where I know where to go when I pick it back up again on Monday.
LOST was fascinating last night. Though the show has been dancing around the mystery of time without coming out and unequivocally saying what they’re up to, “The Constant” lays what I think is the groundwork for much of what is really going on in the show. I liked the abrupt cuts between past and present, and the telephone call between Des and Penny was as touching as anything the show has come up with yet. I was also pumped when the helicopter broke through the clouds and they were free of the island for the first time in 100+ days. Did Naomi fall off or did they leave her moldering in the chopper? No one mentioned her once they landed.
There is still one huge mystery that arose recently—the strange time lag between the island and the ship. The calendar on the ship matches the approximate date on the island, and the sat phones allow them to communicate in real time, but the probe experienced a time delay and the helicopter time was much faster than what was perceived on the island. Very strange.
A wag on the alt.tv.lost said that he thought Sayeed fixed the radio, which was nothing more than a mass of severed cables, faster than the vandal trashed it. The bit where Desmond queries 1996 Dan about not wearing anything to protect his head was pretty funny, too.
The faves kicked butt on Survivor last night. Ozzie the otter had a terrific strategy for the underwater coconut challenge and they all worked together extremely well during the course navigation challenge. I’m not sure Ozzie’s hastily carved “idol” will fool anyone for long, but it was a decent gambit on his part. He’s a very strong player, so sooner or later his ticket is going to get punched. If he figures out that it’s coming he’ll be able to throw a monkey wrench in the works.
I started reading The Fourth Estate buy Jeffrey Archer last night. I haven’t read much by him in a while, other than parts of his prison diaries and a book of short stories. A co-worker lent it to me, so I thought I’d take a break from the stuff I’ve been reading lately and go back to an old favorite. I also wrote the first draft of my review of Comfortably Numb, which I’ll finish up next week, along with my Stieg Larsson review.
